1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric panel of an electronic device that opens and closes when a recoding medium is set in or removed from a recording-medium loading slot of the electronic device.
2) Description of the Related Art
Conventional audiovisual electronic devices typically have an operation panel (hereinafter, “panel”) with buttons for manual operation and a liquid crystal display, and a loading slot to set recording mediums such as mini discs (MDs), compact discs (CDs), and digital versatile discs or digital video discs (DVDs). However, in-car electronic devices such as car stereos or car navigation systems need to be compact enough to fit within a specified area. One approach is to provide the panel in front of the loading slot, such that the panel opens when a recording medium is to be set in the loading slot. FIGS. 1A to 1C are perspective views of an in-car electronic device 1 (hereinafter, “electronic device 1”) with a panel 3 provided on a front side 2a of the electronic device 1. Playback devices 21a to 21c that playback MDs, CDs, or DVDs are located inside a device body 2 of the electronic device 1. The playback devices 21a to 21c have recording-medium loading slots 22a to 22c that are located at the front side 2a of the device body 2, behind the panel 3. The panel 3 is driven from a close position, as shown in FIG. 1A, to an open position, as shown in FIG. 1C, when setting or removing a recording medium. The bottom edge of the panel 3 slides toward the front, and a display surface 31a of the panel 3 tilts upward as shown in FIG. 1B, until the display surface 31a becomes substantially horizontal, as shown in FIG. 1C. As a result, the recording-medium loading slots 22a to 22c appear, so that a recording medium can be set or removed. After the recording medium is set or removed, the panel 3 closes automatically or by a user's instruction.
However, as the panel 3 protrudes outside when open, it can be a safety hazard in case of an accident. To address this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2001-270390 discloses a technology in which a warning sound is emitted when the panel 3 is open while the car is running, to urge a driver (passenger) to close the panel. However, the hazard remains unresolved if the driver ignores the sound.
Another conventional technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-105990 automatically closes the panel 3 after a predetermined time duration from when the car starts running, but causes the panel 3 to remain open if the car is not running. However, the users sometime put object, such as CD cases or coffee cups, on the open panel 3. These objects fall off when the panel 3 closes automatically.